Well, the 4th of July is only six weeks away. We generally have 50 to 60 folks over to shoot fireworks and eat BBQ. Let's hear some ideas on what is traditional around this time of year in your part of the country.

One thing I like to cook out when I have people over is BBQ'd potato skins, salsa made from grilled vegetables and bacon wrapped chicken. If you are interested in any of these recipes let me know and I'll post them.

I got the catalog from Gator pits and the entertainer is now up to $5000 for a stripped down version. The one in the picture has a lot of extras on it and would cost much more than 5k. One feature I found pretty slick was the grill on the back side that detached and can mount in you truck hitch. Thats a pretty good idea. My father-n-law is a welder so I might look at saving a few grand and get the Model 64 from bbqpits.biz and have him add some features to it. Did you want yours for personal use or for a business?

Cut peppers in half lenth wise scoop out seeds and membrain set aside. Set bacon out and let come to room temp. Mix all remaining ingridients except bbq rub throughly. Fill peppers with mixture. Cut bacon in half. Wrap half slice around each pepper. (I do not use tooth picks to hold together. The bacon holds together well if it is at room temp.)Sprinkle with bbq rub. I like to refridgerate overnight. Cook at about 225 - 250 untill bacon is done about 1 hour.

Bob I gotta tell ya, in my mind, for a 4th of July celebration there is only one way to go.
WHOLE HOG!!
Whether you do it in a pit, on a spit, or on a grill nothing and I mean nothing is as impressive as a whole hog.
They are sneakilly easy too. I have no doubt that you could handle it with ease.
If you've never done one Bob this would make a great opportunity.

The side all sound great to me. The only things I saw missing from your list were coleslaw and grilled/or roasted corn ears.
And of course a few kegs of beer!!

I'm looking at "The Entertainer" for personal use mainly. We have church and family functions where it would come in handy.

BBQinFL - I've heard of ABT's before but didn't make an immediate connection. Grilled chilies are very similar. Am definately going to try some!

Grand Scale - I'll wait til I have a rig before I try the whole hog. I believe that I have the know-how to pull it off but an open pit style grill is a fuel hog. I do want to do one in the future!!! We'll be making the slaw to serve on the pulled pork samichs. Our kegs will be filled with tea & Koolaide

To start:We have normally had Buffalo-Wings on the Q but this year I am going to try the wood skewers in the wings to keep em flat like in HTG. We have deep fried peperonni, pork medallions wrapped in bacon and a wide variety of snacks such as cookies and chips.

There are burgers (the Big D's collosal heart stoppers that I posted a few weeks ago) and hot dogs and sasuages goin all day long and people normally have a few of each.

For the main course we have always had a steak for everyone, 1lb of lobster, corn on the cob and a variety of salads.... we normally have mussels and clams and bbq shrimped after dinner and finish it all up with banna's flambee (big crowd pleaser done in a few skillets over the q... people love the huge flames) We also have great big sundes and ice cream, home made cotton candy and fresh popcorn during the fireworks (we have done hip of beef in the past)

For drinks we normally have Pina Colatas and Margirattas and a Keg of Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale (finest beer in the world) and a wide selection of pop, koolaid, other cans and bottles of beer and a great big table of liqour.

We then have our own private Fireworks because the city ones are dissapoiting especially with all the crowds.... last year we had a $5k budget for fireworks and went just a few dollars over, so you can imagine its quite the show.

This year we are doing a whole wild boar and a small suckling pig... the pig will be as small as we can get for two reasons the boar would just be enough for everyone, so we want to have a good size portion..;.. plus I in case some people dont like boar meet... the rest of the menu stays but only the steaks will be cut out... people of course have the option of bringing their own steak.....

I have an apointment to go hunt the boar... its in a 50 acre pen and if we dont bag one within 6 hours they give us one from the farm... they are going to prepare it for us and I just cook it....

Normaly have about 150 people... we charge $50 a head and people eagerly pay it... most people consume twice that in booze and food.... the cover charge normally covers all but $500-$1000 so its not nearly the dent to the pocket as you may have thought while reading...

for other entertainment we have it at My parents summer home which is on a private island of about 1000 acres so we have boat rides and tractor pulls and last year we had the pleasure of a water plane providing areial tours... this year we might have a hot air ballon

That sounds great Bob!
Every year we meet at my In-Law’s house in San Jose, CA for the 4th of July celebration and my mother in-law’s birthday. And I usually cook the feast for the whole family. This year we’re arriving late on the 2nd of July, so I don’t have much time for preparation. This is my menu:
-Grilled Pork Tender loins topped with Papaya and pineapple sauce, served with cheese polenta
- Grilled Beef flank steak with Chimichuri sauce, served on flat bread with grilled vegetables
- Chicken Gyros (see chicken gyro post for recipe), served with Tzaziki and Pita bread
- Fattoush (grilled pita bread salad-see BBQ USA p#113)
- For appetizer: grilled peppers (red, yellow, green, peblano..etc), topped with fresh mozzarella cheese and Basil-Balsamic vinaigrette, stuff grape leaves, and hummus with pita bread.
- For dessert baklava and 4th of July cake.
I wish everyone a great 4th of July celebration.